The Omnibus Crime Bill: Bill C-10

January 23, 2012 @ 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm

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On September 20th, 2011, federal justice minister Rob Nicholson tabled Bill C-10, the Safe Streets and Communities Act. Forty five sitting days later, on December 5th, the bill passed in the House of Commons. The bill includes several reforms in our criminal justice system, including new mandatory minimum sentences and the elimination of conditional sentences for a range of offences, and a stricter approach to the youth criminal justice system. The reforms received severe criticism from civil liberties groups and from the provincial governments who will have to internalize a portion of the high costs entailed. This Asper Centre panel event aims to focus on the wisdom of the new policies in light of social science research, the practical effect of the reforms for criminal law practitioners, and the impact on young offenders.

Panel Discussion with:Professor Anthony Doob, FRSC is a professor of criminology at the Centre for Criminology and Social Studies at the University of Toronto. He holds an A.B from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University. Professor Doob has published extensively in the areas of penal policy and sentencing. His research interests include juvenile justice, the development of criminal justice policy in Canada, and public perception of crime and the justice system. Currently, he is doing research on two separate topics. First, he is continuing his investigation of the manner in which the youth justice system processes young people. Secondly, in collaboration with Cheryl Webster, at the University of Ottawa, he is conducting research in the area of criminal justice punishment policies in Canada during the past half century. This past fall, Professor Doob appeared in front of the House of Commons committee reviewing Bill C-10.

Clayton Ruby, CM, LLD is one of Canada’s leading lawyers specializing in criminal, constitutional, administrative and civil rights law. Mr. Ruby received his LL.B. from the University of Toronto and his LL.M. from the University of California (Berkeley). Mr. Ruby also authored the leading resource on the law of sentencing in Canada, Sentencing, which, for the past 25 years, has been used by criminal practitioners and the Supreme Court of Canada as the leading authority on the topic. Mr. Ruby has been counsel in several high profile matters, including representing Donald Marshall Jr. at the Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall Jr. Prosecution, representing Atif Ahmad Rafay in US v Burns and Rafay, obtaining an acquittal for the wrongfully convicted Guy Paul Morin, and representing Ralph Hussey in R v Askov. In 2006, Mr. Ruby was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

Cheryl Milne is a leading children’s rights lawyer and the Executive Director of the Asper Centre. Prior to coming to the Centre, Ms Milne was a legal advocate for children with the legal clinic Justice for Children and Youth. There she led the clinic’s Charter litigation including the challenge to the corporal punishment defence in the Criminal Code [Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law v. Canada (2004)], the striking down of the reverse onus sections of the Youth Criminal Justice Act for adult sentencing [R. v. D.B. (2008)], and an intervention involving the right of a capable adolescent to consent to her own medical treatment ( A.C. v. Manitoba Child and Family Services (2009)]. She has represented the Asper Centre in R. v. Conway and most recently in the Polygamy Reference case. She is the Past Chair of the Ontario Bar Association’s Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights section.

Moderated by Professor Vincent Chiao, B.A. (University of Virginia), Ph.D. (Northwestern), J.D. (Harvard). Prof. Chiao researches and teaches primarily in the area of criminal law and criminal justice, with a particular interest in the philosophical examination of its doctrine and institutions. Prior to joining the faculty in 2011, he was a law clerk for the Hon. Juan R. Torruella of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and a Reginald F. Lewis Fellow at Harvard Law School.